Jehovah’s Witnesses: Two Classes of Christians?

I get this question a lot! The following should put an end to that question and quite possibly make you ask more questions as a result!

The “faithful and discreet slave” make a lot of the following scripture at John 10:16:

“I have other sheep which are not of this fold. These too I must bring and the two will become one flock, one shepherd.” NWT

They say that this means that there are two classes, one of the “annointed” 144,000 spoken of in Revelation who’s hope is a heavenly hope and the other a numberless group of “other sheep” who’s hope is for everlasting life here on earth.

I have only one question: When were these words of Jesus spoken? They were spoken during His ministry to whom? If you answered the Jews then you get a gold star.

Matthew 10: 5, 6

5 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans,6but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep.”

It was only after His ascension that Jesus commanded His disciples to preach to the gentiles.

Acts 10

Cornelius Calls for Peter

1 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer[a] named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. 3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said.

4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel.

And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! 5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”

7 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. 8 He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.

Peter Visits Cornelius

9 The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, 10 and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”

15 But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 16 The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.

17 Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, 18 they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there.

19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”

21 So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”

22 They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” 23 So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.

24 They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!” 27 So they talked together and went inside, where many others were assembled.

28 Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. 29 So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me.”

30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. 31 He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! 32 Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.”

The Gentiles Hear the Good News

34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. 36 This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. 38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

39 “And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross,[c]40 but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, 41 not to the general public,[d] but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. 43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

44 Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers[e] who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter asked, 47 “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

It is quite obvious to anyone reading these scriptures that what is being spoken of when Jesus referred to these “other sheep” is nothing more than the gospel being preached to the non-Jews!

It was certainly obvious to the apostle Paul in his words shown below:

Ephesians 2:

11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

My point in this is the following scripture that I read this morning in Matthew. It hit me like a ton of bricks that the “payment” for being a Christian is most obviously the same regardless of the timing. Christ makes it exceedingly plain for all but the most painfully obtuse:

Matthew 20

Parable of the Vineyard Workers

“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard.2He agreed to pay the normal daily wage[a] and sent them out to work.

3“At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing.4So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day.5So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

6“At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

8“That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.9When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.10When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.11When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,12‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?14Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.15Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

The payment, the reward, the destination is the same regardless of when, how, or why you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

We can argue until doomsday about the exact destination. Will paradise be in heaven for eternity or will it be here on earth? The scriptures speak of a “new heavens and a new earth” so who knows and quite frankly who really cares? The fact is that you’re alive (forever) and you’re in “paradise” with God wherever that may be!

The Watchtower loves to play with the all too human fear of death by proposing that there is the possibility that you will never have to die. This creates a “worker bee” mentality among their new converts and is exactly the response they look for in their flock! They even published a book back in 1920 that stated that bald faced lie in no uncertain terms:

“Millions Now Living Will Never Die”

As we have heretofore stated, the great jubilee cycle is due to begin in 1925. At that time the earthly phase of the kingdom shall be recognized…. Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old,…

J. F. Rutherford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920, pp. 89, 90.

We’re still waiting Mr. Rutherford! This crazy old man was so convinced that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were coming that he bought a huge mansion in California (using Watchtower funds!) and named it “Beth Sarim” and subsequently moved into the palacial estate where he stayed until his death.

Note the following response by the old WT to this bald faced lie:

What a happy prospect! Though mistaken, they eagerly shared it with others.

Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, 1993, p. 632.

So even though it was lie, a total fabrication, they say it was a “happy prospect” and that they eagerly shared it with others. I don’t know about you but if something is untrue then the more people I “share” it with the dumber I end up looking when the truth comes out!

The scriptures flatly contradict the lie that they still tell today in their door to door ministry:

Hebrews 9:27, 28:

27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

The Watchtower loves to split hairs and create doubt when there should be none. That is, after all, their job! Their elaborate system of two classes allows for one class (the annointed faithful and discreet slave) to tell the other class what to do. That is their reason for having two classes of people otherwise their followers could decide for themselves what to do since then they would have a direct line of communication with God via Jesus Christ instead of having to depend on the “faithful and discreet slave” for “meat in due season”.

Obviously the millions in the “other sheep” class far outnumber the relatively miniscule thousands of the so called “annointed”. Even then the thousands don’t have the power. The power of the WT is held by seven old single men who live in Brooklyn who’s words and actions are above reproach by anyone in the organization. Their word is law to the rest of the Jehovah’s Witnesses!

Ecclesiastes 8:9

“…man has dominated man to his own injury.” NWT

Bottom line?

There is only one class and that is the Christian class. There is no difference between those converted to Christianity two thousand years ago by the early disciples and those converted today.

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About Me

Hi I'm Doug Shields.
I was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses for twenty-three years of my life. I finally realized that they didn't have "the truth" and I left the organization.

That decision cost me members of my family, my friends, my reputation, and in some respects, my identity. I had to rebuild my life one brick at a time.

Today I'm a happy, productive, and highly fulfilled person.

The purpose of this blog is to help others who are experiencing strained or broken relationships, self destructive behavior, addictions, depression, and low self esteem as a direct result of involvement in destructive mind control cults.

I hope you find this blog to be as helpful to you in reading it as is to me in writing it.